Federal File

A New Commandment

Charlton Heston wants to spend $50 million to teach children that
they have the right to carry guns.

The actor well-known for his portrayal of Moses is now the first
vice president of the National Rifle Association. In that role, he
announced this month that the NRA will spend $100 million in the next
two years on a public education campaign in support of the Second
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lays out the "right of the
people to keep and bear arms."

The gun owners' lobby, with headquarters in Fairfax, Va., will
dedicate at least half the money for children's education, Mr. Heston
said. "It is time [children] learned that firearm ownership is
constitutional, not criminal," Mr. Heston said in a Sept. 11 speech at
the National Press Club in Washington. "In fact, few pursuits can teach
a young person more about responsibility, safety, conservation, their
history, and their heritage--all at once."

The group has not decided the exact shape of the campaign and
whether it will include a curriculum for schools, a spokesman for the
group said. The NRA interprets the Second Amendment to mean gun-control
laws are unconstitutional.

Its opponents say the NRA is wrong and takes Second Amendment
language out of context. "Their interpretation of the Second Amendment
has never been held up in federal court," said Jake Tapper, the
associate director of communications for Handgun Control, a
Washington-based group that lobbies for stricter controls on guns. "If
that's the mindset that goes into the formation of a curriculum, I hope
that curriculum is not taught in any capacity anywhere."

Wordsmiths

In Washington, style often wins over substance.

The House's fiscal 1998 education appropriations bill included an
amendment to encourage "whole school" reform. Conservatives complained
that the new program would present a new way for the federal government
to infringe on local decisionmaking. ("Proposal Would Link School Dollars, Proven
Models," Sept. 10, 1997.)

To appease critics, the amendment's authors changed its name. They
did not, however, substantially alter its purpose or the rules
governing it. The proposed program is now known as the "comprehensive
school reform" program. It was passed in the House appropriations bill
last week, but still must be approved in a final House-Senate spending
measure.